Nigeria: ABB subsidiaries plead guilty to $1 million bribery

The U.S. and British subsidiaries of ABB Ltd., a Swiss equipment-maker, pleaded guilty to paying more than $1 million in illegal bribes to win oil contracts in Nigeria, the Justice Department said Tuesday. ABB Vetco Gray Inc. of Houston and ABB Vetco Gray U.K. Ltd. of Aberdeen, Scotland, disclosed the suspicious payments to the government last year and formally pleaded guilty in federal court in Houston. As part of the deal, each company agreed to pay a fine of $5.25 million.